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Begin New Search Topic Populism Political Geography Brazil Publication Year within 5 Years

1. The Pandemic Exposes and Exacerbates Existing Problems of Inequality and Polarization

Author:
Joshua Kurlantzick
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
East Asia Institute (EAI)
Abstract:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, while some democracies (such as Canada and Australia) have been able to respond effectively, the five large democracies of the United States, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines have suffered severe effects on public health. In this commentary, Joshua Kurlantzick, a Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains how social and economic inequalities in these countries are the cause of their ineffective responses to the pandemic. He then points out how populist politicians in these countries have exacerbated inequality during the pandemic with their rhetoric and policy. The author then argues that despite political, economic, and social problems in these countries, leaders have an opportunity to alleviate inequality through major democratizing reforms, as there is a public sentiment of wanting to work together to overcome the pandemic.
Topic:
Democracy, Inequality, Populism, Public Health, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Indonesia, India, Brazil, Philippines, and United Nations

2. Authoritarian Populism as a Response to Crisis: The Case of Brazil

Author:
Esra Akgemci
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This article demonstrates that the authoritarian populist strategy is most appealing when leaders create a sense of crisis and present themselves as having the only solution. The article underlines three performative methods of how Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil offered simple answers for a crisis and portrayed other political actors as the responsible ones to be removed. Firstly, nativism presents a conservative view on how politics should be structured by perceiving all “non-natives” as threatening. Secondly, messianism, the fetishism of Bolsonaro as a “messiah” who leads the way in the battle between “good” and “evil,” serves to reinforce the support of the Evangelist base against “PT members.” Finally, conspiracism provides an easy way to eradicate ambiguities and helps to fuel an antagonism against the “enemy.”
Topic:
Security, Authoritarianism, Populism, Nativism, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

3. How concerning is Bolsonaro’s recent political and military shakeup?

Author:
Ryan C. Berg
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
urbulent politics and a deep shakeup in Brasilia have many concerned for the stability of Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. The stampede of ministerial exits started early this week with the resignation of foreign minister Ernesto Araújo. The defense minister followed suit shortly thereafter. By day’s end, six ministers had either resigned or moved to new posts — about one-third of Bolsonaro’s cabinet. Perhaps more concerning than the political overhaul was what transpired one day after the ministerial shakeup: the leadership restructuring within Brazil’s armed forces — occurring, no less, one day before the 57th anniversary of the military coup. The heads of all three major branches — the army, the navy, and the air force — resigned en masse, purportedly over concerns for their independence, handing Bolsonaro the opportunity to handpick their successors. Brazil witnessed something analogous only once before — in 1977, under the turbulent rule of military dictator Ernesto Geisel. This has left some Brazil watchers fretting that an insecure Bolsonaro could be laying the foundations “for his own January 6.”
Topic:
Politics, Military Affairs, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Populism, and Jair Bolsonaro
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

4. Mexico 2018-2021: Pandemic, Crisis, Security and Geopolitics/México 2018-2021: Pandemia, Crisis, Seguridad y Geopolítica

Author:
Raúl Benítez Manaut
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
The article starts from the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic re-evaluates the concept of multidimensional security, which emerged from the 2003 meeting of the Organization of American States. It is argued that, at the level of hemispheric geopolitics, it is in the three most populous countries, under the nationalist and populist leaderships of Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, where the pandemic has wreaked the most havoc. The similarities in the initial handling of the pandemic, its minus-valuation, the so-called Fourth Transformation policy and its characteristics, deployed by President López Obrador in Mexico and its effect on the militarization of the country are analyzed as well as the impact of the pandemic on the population and the great economic crisis induced. It is concluded that Mexico is experiencing a "militarization with popular support", and that the pandemic has favored the public image of the military. / El artículo se desarrolla sobre la hipótesis de que la pandemia COVID-19 revalora el concepto de seguridad multidimensional, desprendido de la reunión de la Organización de Estados Americanos de 2003. Se afirma que, a nivel de la geopolítica del hemisferio, es en los tres países más poblados, los liderazgos nacionalistas y populistas de Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro y Andrés Manuel López Obrador, donde la pandemia ha causado más estragos. Se analizan las similitudes en el manejo inicial de la pandemia, su minusvaloración, la llamada política de la Cuarta Transformación y sus características, desplegada por el presidente López Obrador en México y el efecto que tiene en la militarización del país; el impacto de la pandemia en la población y la gran crisis económica inducida. Se concluye que México vive una “militarización con respaldo popular”, y que la pandemia ha sido un elemento que ha favorecido a los militares en su imagen pública.
Topic:
Security, Populism, COVID-19, and Militarization
Political Geography:
Brazil, Latin America, Mexico, and United States of America

5. Civil Resistance Against 21st Century Authoritarianism: Defending Human Rights in the Global South

Author:
César Rodríguez-Garavito, Ezequiel A. Monsalve F., Ektaa Deochand, Slavenska Zec, and Kerem Çiftçioğlu
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
This book — and Dejusticia’s initiative that originated it — seeks to promote answers to populist challenges to human rights. To do so, they propose a new thrust characterized by three features: reflective writing, narrative writing, and voices from the Global South. First, this book contains reflective writing. Its authors are activists who work directly within organizations in the field, who stop to think about the potential, the achievements, and the challenges of their knowledge and practice. In this sense, the book seeks to amplify the voices of human rights defenders in discussions about the future of the field, which tend to be dominated by research from academia. The texts combine the methodological and analytical strengths of academic research with the practical experience of the authors, organizations, and communities with which they work. The objective is to promote a hybrid genre that contributes to maintaining and widening the window of reflection and discussion in the field of human rights. Second, the genre proposed in this book, and in the series of which it is part, is narrative writing. In part because of the prevalence of legal language and knowledge of the world of human rights, the predominant writing in their field is that of technical reports and legal pleadings. While these genres have made notable achievements over the decades, this focus has prevented organizations and activists from effectively sharing their stories and experiences firsthand: those of the victims, the campaigns, the moral dilemmas, the injustices, the victories, and more. Opening the field of human rights to other actors, other knowledge, and other audiences means telling these stories and telling them well. To this end, the authors of these chapters are involved in the stories, relating them using techniques taken from fields such as narrative journalism. Third, the stories come from the Global South, from countries and regions that have more often been the object of study rather than the subject of knowledge, making their own decisions in the field of human rights. In this sense, these chapters attempt to respond to the challenges of a more multipolar world, to counter the organizational, economic, and epistemological asymmetries between South and North that have undermined the effectiveness and legitimacy of the global human rights movement. The authors of these studies are activists, researchers, and members of human rights organizations writing from this geographical and professional perspective to enrich the global debate on the future of the field.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Food, Authoritarianism, Populism, Political Prisoners, and Healthcare System
Political Geography:
Turkey, India, Brazil, South America, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, and Global South

6. Prison populism in Latin America

Author:
Carlos Vilalta and Gustavo Fondevila
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Igarapé Institute
Abstract:
The objective of this study is to offer a data-driven review of the growth, trends, and the principle reasons behind the rapid expansion of the prison population in the region during the past two decades. A key factor appears to be the rise of prison populism. We do not provide an argument for the recent decrease in the growth rate, it is too early to determine whether the recent slow-down in prison population growth is due to a regime shift in the time series, or the effect of random variation. Still, ceteris paribus, we provide a projection of the prison population rate for the region. This Strategic Note fills a gap in the literature. Our particular contribution consists of the compilation on quantitative data of the region’s prison population, with the purpose of providing a broad but novel overview of the rapid growth and challenges to a wide audience of researchers and practitioners worldwide.
Topic:
Prisons/Penal Systems, Population, and Populism
Political Geography:
Brazil, Latin America, Venezuela, and Mexico

7. Democracy Facing Global Challenges: V-DEM ANNUAL DEMOCRACY REPORT 2019

Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:
This year’s Democracy Report shows that the trend of a third wave autocratization – the decline of democratic regime traits – continues and now affects 24 countries. When we weight levels of democracy by population size – because democracy is rule by the people and it matters how many of them are concerned – it emerges that almost one third of the world’s population live in countries undergoing autocratization. Yet democracy still prevails in a majority of countries in the world (99 countries, 55 percent). This section analyses the state of democracy in the world in 2018 and developments since 1972, with an emphasis on the last 10 years. Our analysis builds on the 2019 release of the V-Dem dataset.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Developing World, Democracy, and Populism
Political Geography:
United States, Turkey, Ukraine, India, and Brazil